Contaminated land and environmental searches

Why have a contaminated land search

As part of the house buying process an environmental search is often undertaken by a private search company who offer a professional opinion and a 'certificate'. Such certificates are not a legal requirement and are intended to help you interpret the findings of your commercial environmental search.

If you are not issued with a certificate, or the professional opinion requires further action, it does not mean that the land is contaminated just that more detailed information may be needed. A contaminated land search undertaken by your local authority can provide you with the further information you need.

Developers and consultants may require detailed information in order to help characterise sites and inform decisions prior to the redevelopment of sites.

Information provided in a contaminated land search

We undertake searches based on the radius requested and will include all of the information below:

site history based on Historical Ordnance Survey Mapping noting the presence of any potentially contaminating former land uses such as landfills and industrial processes

permitted processed under the PPC Regulations 2000

A search of our records to include:

any known records of gas emissions and contamination issues in the immediate area

any known remediation or remediation notices

information from Site Investigations and remediation reports held

details of the site in regards to our Inspection Strategy under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990

NB: Should you require any further or more detailed information an additional cost may be incurred, an option to request such information is provided within the online application form.

Applying for a contaminated land search

We charge for our searches to cover the cost of officer time spent searching records and preparing the response and we aim to respond to your enquiry within 10 working days from receipt of payment.

The cost of a report will depend on the scope required:

small premises plus 250m radius: £87

small premises plus 500m radius: £140

large premises plus 250m radius: £140

large premises plus 500m radius: £175

A small site is defined as a property of less than 1 hectare in size (10,000m2), this will include most residential properties.

A large site is defined as a property of more that 1 hectare in size and refers mainly to commercial and industrial premises.

The standard requirement in the majority of cases is for a 250m radius search for a small site.